Teens Turn to Oral Sex Seeking Safe Alternative, Study Finds

Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Two-thirds of U.S. teenagers and
young adults ages 15 to 24 have had oral sex, according to U.S.
researchers who say people in this group may mistakenly feel
it’s less risky than vaginal intercourse.

This is the first time researchers asked young people about
the timing of oral sex relative to vaginal intercourse,
according to today’s findings by the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. It’s important to understand sexual
activities of young people to help educate them about the risks,
the authors wrote in the report.

The study, based on 6,346 interviews that followed behavior
2007 through 2010, determined that 66 percent of females and 65
percent of males had experienced oral sex. About 25 percent of
both genders had oral sex at least once before they had vaginal
intercourse for the first time, the survey found.

“Research suggests that adolescents perceive fewer health-related risks for oral sex compared with vaginal intercourse,”
wrote the authors, led by Casey Copen in the division of vital
statistics for the Atlanta-based CDC. “However, young people,
particularly those who have oral sex before their first vaginal
intercourse, may still be placing themselves at risk of STIs or
HIV before they are ever at risk of pregnancy.”

About 28 percent of females and 27 percent of males hadn’t
had any kind of sex at all, according to the Atlanta-based
agency.

The percentage of teenagers who have had vaginal sex
dropped from 51 percent in 1988 to 43 percent in the period from
2006 to 2010, the report said. Condom use increased, according
to the report, though the rate of sexually transmitted diseases
remained about the same.

Infection Risks

In 2010, half of new sexually transmitted infections
occurred in people ages 15 to 24. Oral sex can transmit
chlamydia, genital herpes, gonorrhea and syphilis, according to
the report.

Though the researchers asked about whether oral sex
preceded vaginal intercourse, they didn’t ask at what age the
non-coital activity took place, so the amount of time between
first oral sex and vaginal intercourse can’t be determined.

About 8 percent of females and 13 percent of males ages 15
to 17 had oral sex without vaginal intercourse; those numbers
were lower among older teenagers, with about 6 percent of
females and 7 percent of males who were 18 to 19 reporting oral
sex without coitus.

The younger a girl was when she had vaginal intercourse for
the first time, the more likely it was that she experienced oral
sex afterwards, the survey found.

White teenagers were most likely to experience oral sex
before vaginal intercourse, with 49 percent of those surveyed
saying they had oral sex first. In contrast, 37 percent of
Hispanic young adults had oral sex first, and 27 percent of
black kids.